Something to Protect
by Tamasha
Summary: [BBI] Envy knew he should hate Pride.


_** A/N: **sweatdrop Well, okay. I admit it. I love to over-analyze characters and get into their heads. The result? Pieces like these, which are fun to write and boring to read._

_**Disclaimer: **If I owned FMA or BBI, you think I'd be posting on FFNet? _

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Envy knew he should hate Pride.

It was only natural, really. The young homunculus had, in one way or the other at some point in his two lives, taken everything from Envy. When alive, he had tormented him by his very existence, reminding him that Hohenheim had rejected, abandoned him, thrown him away in favour of his perfect wife and perfect new sons. Oh, how his blood would boil when he laid eyes on Edward Elric, that goddamned chibi-san. Mockery, a voice semed to whisper in his head whenever he laid eyes on the blonde alchemist. Worthless. Reject. So, he hated him with all the vitriol born of the envy for which he was named, and struck out at him whenever possible, taking a vicious pleasure in his pain.

He had thought it was over when Edward died. He had thought, that finally, maybe, he was free. But no. Hohenheim resurrected the boy as he had once done with Envy, brought him back as Pride. And Pride continued to do in death as he had done in life, surpassing Envy, taking what was rightfully his, usurping Hohenheim's affections…affection that was little more than a cold acknowledgement of usefulness, but which Envy longed for all the same, against his will and despite his hatred.

He should hate Pride. Blonde Pride, _better_ Pride, _perfect_ Pride, Pride who always seemed to be calm and collected, Pride who had, was, and would always be, taking what belonged to him. How could one not hate someone who had stolen as much from him as Pride had? Really, it made perfect sense. There was only one impediment to this reasoning, and that was Pride himself.

For Pride, irritatingly enough, stubbornly refused to be party to this logic. His attitude towards the older homunculus was one of…admiration. No, not admiration…goddamn fucking _hero-worship _was more like it. Not that Pride would say that, no, he would just quietly follow Envy around like a devoted little puppy-dog, not saying a word, but a look of such trust in his eyes that it unnerved him. To distract himself from the strange feelings that look evoked inside of him, he would scream and curse, push Pride away, strike him, hurt him, do everything he could to drive him away and turn him against it. _Stop following me around, he would rage. Stop looking at me like that! I hate you, why won't you just go away?_

But Pride would not be fazed. He would hear the insults without retorting, take the blows without flinching, showing no outward reaction than to perhaps flick his golden eyes up to Envy's face, searching silently for something befoe casting them down again with a look of quiet resignation and understanding.

As time passed and all his efforts proved in vain, Envy's anger faded to be gradually replaced by puzzlement. Try as he might, he could discern no traces of Edward within Pride. Rather, Pride was the polar opposite of the volatile alchemist in every way. No, Pride was not Edward. That still left the question of just why it was that he saw Envy the way he did, looked up to him as he did. And more importantly…why Envy, despite his better judgement, found himself minding the younger's adoration less and less with each passing day, indeed, perhaps even growing fond of him…

He had tried asking Pride once, on an evening when the two had sat together on the windowsill staring out over the lights of the darkened city. Their usual silence had hung unusually heavy and long that time, and the words had burst from his lips before he even realized it. The next instant, he had scowled and turned away, hiding his embarrassment under a show of rage.

Pride had looked puzzled for a few moments, then had answered quietly and without hesitation "Because you're my brother." He had fallen silent after that, gazing expectantly at Envy as if there was nothing more to say.

And there hadn't been.

It had taken him a while to figure it out, but Envy had eventually come to realize just what it was that made Pride so strangely endearing. The younger homunculus gave him something…something he had never experienced before. That feeling of knowing that someone looked up to him, followed him, trusted him…it made him feel a sense of—and this was ironic—pride. For once, he felt worthy, important, cared about for who he was and not as a failed imitation of someone else.

Not that he would ever say this to Pride, of course. A smirk graced Envy's lips as he leaned against the cool surface of the wall and gazed up at the night sky. Pride was curled up on the windowsill next to him, head resting on Envy's shoulder and one arm draped across his lap, long asleep. It had become their habit to sit here in quiet companionship on these evenings that stretched into nights. Envy found these periods of quiet contemplation strangely soothing, and more often than not, he found his thoughts drifting to the one who lay asleep against him, and just how they had come to be that way.

His arm tightened unconsciously around Pride, fingers coiling in the smoothness of the younger's hair. _I have something to protect now. And I will not let it be taken away from me like everything else._

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_ **A/N: **Yep, last bit swiped right from Tenka no Hadou Ken...what can I say? Inu-papa is teh love._

_ Reviews make me a happy author, and happy authors write more! xD_


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